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Non-profit

EdChoice

Ed Choice logo (link)
Website:

edchoice.org
Location:

Indianapolis, IN
Tax ID:

35-1978359
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $8,110,345
Expenses: $7,288,262
Assets: $19,163,460
Formation:

2013
Type:

Non-profit
President:

Robert Enlow

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EdChoice (formerly the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice) is an advocacy organization that promotes an American education system based on school choice1 and supports the use of educational savings accounts (ESAs) and public funding for students educated outside the traditional government-run school system. 2 EdChoice uses its state and national research to promote its policy agenda and to inform the public. EdChoice supports state level school choice advocacy programs nationwide. 3

EdChoice is a member of the State Policy Network (SPN). 4

History

EdChoice was founded as the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice by the late Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman and his wife and fellow economist Rose Friedman in 1996. Its promotes an active role for parents in choosing schools for their children. The Foundation renamed itself EdChoice in 2016, and continues to advocate for school choice. 5

EdChoice educates the public, performs state and national research, trains citizen and legislator advocates, and supports state-level school-choice coalitions. 6 In an effort to further the school choice movement, EdChoice aims to educate a diverse audience about the policy’s benefits through its research, which is published as studies, surveys, and legislative analyses. 7

Activity

Edchoice promotes the use of educational savings accounts (ESAs) and public funding of students receiving education outside the traditional government-run school system, both of which assist in tuition should a parent choose a private school education for their child. 8

EdChoice works with organizations like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in support of school choice policy. In 2016, EdChoice sponsored left-of-center educational choice advocate Dr. Steve Perry’s speech at ALEC’s annual meeting, in hopes of bridging the partisan divide in education policy. 9 EdChoice senior research fellow Matthew Ladner is the co-author of the ALEC’s “Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform.” 10

Funding

EdChoice is funded by individual donations and by grants from organizations like the Gleason Family Foundation, which contributed $400,000 in 2017,11 and the Wallace F. Walter Jr. Memorial Foundation, which contributed $10,000 in 2018. 12

People

Staff

Robert Enlow is the president and CEO of EdChoice. Previously, Enlow served in multiple roles at the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, including vice president and executive director, before becoming the Foundation’s president and CEO. Enlow serves on the boards of School Choice Ohio, Hoosiers for Quality Education, Institute for Quality Education, and the Economic Club of Indiana, among others. 13

Paul DiPerna is vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice. DiPerna is involved with organizations like the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network, American Association for Public Opinion Research, Association for Education Finance and Policy, and the International School Choice and Reform Conference. DiPerna formerly served as the assistant director for the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. 14

Leslie Hiner is the vice president of legal affairs. Hiner is a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network and the Federalist Society. Hiner serves on advisory council of Schools That Can and is a policy advisor for the Heartland Institute. 15

Brian McGrath is the vice president of external relations and former executive director of Aiming Higher and its affiliated PAC. 16

Jason Bedrick is director of policy for EdChoice. Previously, Bedrick served as policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and as an education policy research fellow at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. 17

Board of Directors

Board chair Fred Klipsch serves as the chair of Hoosiers for Quality Education and is a consultant to the Institute for Quality Education and the Network for Quality Education. 18

Fred Reams is a trustee of the Foundation for Economic Education. 19

Michael Walker is the chair of the Fraser Institute Foundation and founding executive director of the Fraser Institute. Walker is the co-founder of the “Economic Freedom of the World” annual survey project. 20

Virginia Walden Ford is an education activist and founder of D.C. Parents for School Choice. Ford and her group successfully advocated for the Opportunity Scholarship Program, providing scholarships for low-income children to attend private schools. 21

William “Jerry” Hume is the chair of the board of Basic American Inc. and currently serves on the board of the Center for Education Reform. Hume formerly served on the California State Board of Education and on the boards of the California Council on Economic Education and TEACH America. Hume is the former chair of the board of the Foundation for Teaching Economics and the California Academy of Sciences. 22

Other board members include Devin Anderson, treasurer; J. Scott Enright, secretary and vice chairman; and David D. Friedman. 23

Founding directors included J. Patrick Rooney, founder of the Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust; John Mutz, former Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (R); Mitch Daniels, former Governor of Indiana (R); Gordon St. Angelo, president emeritus of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice; economist Rose Friedman;  Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman; and Janet Martel. 24

References

  1. “Who We Are.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/who-we-are/.
  2. “Fast Facts.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/engage/fast-facts/.
  3. “Fast Facts.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/engage/fast-facts/.
  4. “EdChoice.” State Policy Network, 2020. Accessed September 17, 2020. https://spn.org/organization/edchoice/.
  5. “Our Legacy.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/who-we-are/our-legacy/.
  6. “What We Do.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/what-we-do/.
  7. “Fast Facts.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/engage/fast-facts/.
  8. “Fast Facts.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/engage/fast-facts/.
  9. “Educational Choice and Bridging the Political Divide.” EdChoice, August 11, 2016. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/engage/educational-choice-and-bridging-the-political-divide/.
  10. “Matthew Ladner, Ph.D., EdChoice Fellow.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020.  https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/matthew-ladner-ph-d-senior-fellow/.
  11. Gleason Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3.
  12. Wallace F. Walter Jr. Memorial Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (990-PF), 2018, Part XV, Line 3.
  13. “Robert C. Enlow.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/robert-c-enlow/.
  14. “Paul DiPerna.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/paul-diperna/.
  15. “Leslie Hiner.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/leslie-hiner/.
  16. “Brian McGrath.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/brian-mcgrath/.
  17. “Jason Bedrick.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/our-team/jason-bedrick/.
  18. “Fred Klipsch.” Philanthropy Roundtable, 2019. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/home/about/our-staff/detail/klipsch.
  19. “Fred Reams.” Foundation for Economic Education. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://fee.org/people/fred-reams/.
  20. “Michael Walker.” The Fraser Institute. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/michael-walker.
  21. “Meet Virginia Walden Ford.” Virginia Walden Ford. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.virginiawaldenford.com/about-virginia/.
  22. “Jerry Hume.” The Heritage Foundation, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.heritage.org/staff/jerry-hume.
  23. “Our Team.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/who-we-are/our-team/.
  24. “Our Team.” EdChoice, 2020. Accessed September 13, 2020. https://www.edchoice.org/who-we-are/our-team/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: June 1, 1996

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form 990 $8,110,345 $7,288,262 $19,163,460 $1,228,179 N $7,274,922 $105,097 $505,129 $640,368 PDF
    2019 Dec Form 990 $9,157,113 $8,567,655 $16,365,500 $853,941 N $8,652,620 $49,327 $481,361 $635,213 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $8,055,066 $8,052,685 $14,537,513 $853,611 Y $7,502,421 $0 $613,819 $640,294 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $8,183,001 $7,685,637 $14,999,676 $841,701 N $7,500,897 $0 $599,800 $642,260 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $6,970,342 $6,494,131 $14,099,927 $646,725 N $6,372,528 $0 $424,369 $555,845
    2015 Dec Form 990 $7,085,883 $6,416,110 $12,839,760 $275,424 N $6,720,450 $0 $300,697 $543,571 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $10,167,856 $4,881,752 $12,672,422 $253,028 N $10,042,798 $0 $149,501 $509,864 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $4,985,827 $5,209,399 $7,186,494 $252,129 N $3,962,839 $0 $103,602 $507,427 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $5,235,726 $4,888,817 $7,362,855 $241,769 N $5,278,378 $0 $86,589 $476,184 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $4,809,137 $4,109,218 $6,461,598 $142,260 N $4,498,513 $0 $59,604 $486,697 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    EdChoice

    111 MONUMENT CIR STE 2650
    Indianapolis, IN 46204-5102